Salesforce is hiring its first Chief Ethical and Humane Use officer to make sure its artificial intelligence isn't used for evil

Paula Goldman will be Salesforce's first Chief Ethical and Humane Use officer

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Salesforce

Salesforce will hire Paula Goldman as its first Chief
Ethical and Humane Use officer.

Goldman will spearhead a new Office of Ethical and
Humane Use, which focuses on developing strategies to use
technology in an ethical and humane way at the
company.

This announcement comes during a year of protests in
Silicon Valley over how companies - including Salesforce - put
its technology to use, as tech workers protest deals with the
U.S. military and immigration authorities.

On Monday, Salesforce announced
it would hire Paula Goldman to lead its new Office of Ethical and
Humane Use, and she will officially start on Jan. 7. This office
will focus on developing strategies to use technology in an
ethical and humane way at Salesforce.

"For years, I've admired
Salesforce as a leader in ethical business," Goldman said in a
statement. "We're at an important inflection point as an
industry, and I'm excited to work with this team to chart a path
forward."

With the development of the new
Office of Ethical and Humane Use, Salesforce plans to merge law,
policy and ethics to develop products in an ethical manner.
That's especially notable, as
Salesforce itself has come under fire from its own employees
for a contract it holds with U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.

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"We understand that we have a
broader responsibility to society, and aspire to create
technology that not only drives the success of our customers, but
also drives positive social change and benefits humanity,"
Salesforce's Office of Ethical and Humane Use says.

She has also served on
Salesforce's Advisory Council for the Office of Ethical and
Humane Use, which includes industry experts and academics. This
council focuses on how to build technology in an ethical
fashion.

"Working with Paula as a member
of the Advisory Council, I was immediately impressed by her
exceptional leadership and thoughtful approach to truly complex
issues," Tony Prophet, Salesforce Chief Equality Officer, sad in
a statement. "I'm confident Paula is the right person to lead us
into this next chapter at Salesforce."

Goldman is also the founder and
director of Imagining Ourselves, a project of the International
Museum of Women. She has received the Social Impact Award from
the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, and a Muse
Award from the American Association of Museums.

However, she'll have a tough
challenge ahead, as she navigates the increasingly murky world of
Silicon Valley ethics, as Salesforce itself gets drawn into the
debate around right and wrong ways to use technology.

Salesforce has come under fire

In Silicon Valley, employees and
activists continue to protest tech giants' use of artificial
intelligence and other technologies that could potentially be
used for unethical ends.

This controversy has touched
Salesforce, too. More than 650 Salesforce employees
wrote a letter
to CEO Marc Benioff to protest
the company's work with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in
light of President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance immigration
policies.

Weeks later, tech workers and
activists
demonstrated
in front of Salesforce Tower, the
company's San Francisco headquarters. Also, a non-profit group
that provides legal services to immigrants rejected
a $250,000 donation
from Salesforce, saying that it
couldn't accept the money unless the company canceled the
contract.